This section introduces information from the art that may be related to or provide context for some aspects of the techniques described herein and/or claimed below. This information is background facilitating a better understanding of that which is disclosed herein. Such background may include a discussion of “related” art. That such art is related in no way implies that it is also “prior” art. The related art may or may not be prior art. The discussion is to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
Managing patient flow for a medical practice can be a challenge. Typically, patients do not like waiting in an examination room any longer than is necessary, and most physicians and medical practice personnel want to know the status of the medical examination before entering the examination room. Generally, many medical practices utilize a “flag system” to manage patient flow. The “flag system” utilizes multiple flags placed outside an examination room. Each flag is assigned a different color, which indicates the status of a patient examination. In the “flag system”, the medical practice personnel or physician manually selects the flag color based on the status of the patient examination, and then actuates or otherwise displays the selected flag so that it is in the active state. In this manner, the physician and other medical practice personnel can determine the status of a patient examination by viewing the flag outside of the examination room.
While there are many benefits to the “flag system”, there are drawbacks. As an example, “flag system” often does not provide the status of a patient examination in real-time, substantially real-time, or asynchronously. For example, in a typical medical practice, medical personnel, such as a nurse or technician, bring a patient to the examination room for an initial assessment. The initial assessment may involve such tasks as taking the vitals of the patient (e.g., blood pressure, height, and weight) and the initial medical history of the patient. Meanwhile, the physician is waiting for the medical personnel to finish the initial assessment. The physician typically has no way of determining the status of the initial assessment and thus may begin another task while waiting for the nurse or technician to finish the initial assessment, even though it might be completed imminently. As a result, the patient may have to wait several minutes before the physician finishes the task and can enter the examination room to see the patient. Further, the medical practice personnel or physician may neglect to change the flag so it corresponds to the real-time status of the patient examination and thus the physician and others may incorrectly identify the current status of the patient examination. As a result, the efficiency of the patient flow can be decreased, which can lead to wasted time for the patient, physician, and medical practice personnel as well as increased costs.
Contained herein is a disclosure directed to resolving, or at least reducing, one or more of the problems mentioned above, or other problems that may exist in the art.